BOLIVIA—Each free dump week, which usually takes place in Brunswick County twice a year, costs the county about $27,000.

But county commissioners on Monday decided it’s money well spent and opted to once again have a free dump week at the county landfill in Bolivia. Commissioners approved the semi-annual event, tentatively scheduled for April 12-17, at the county landfill in Bolivia.

Shallotte aldermen have received an update on the San Rio project, agreed to apply for a state grant for a new sidewalk along the Shallotte River Bridge and has changed the town’s fee policy to make development somewhat easier.

At Tuesday night’s town board meeting, officials from LandTech Asset Management Company, the court-appointed receiver for the stalled San Rio development off Gray Bridge Road, said they are working to get the property ready for construction and lot sales.

Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series of stories about the needs of veterans in Brunswick County and the feasibility of converting Brunswick Community Hospital to a VA facility once it’s vacated.

Whether or not money is available for a Veterans Affairs clinic in Brunswick County seems to be debatable, but U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre, D-N.C., says he’s pushing forward, ‘full steam ahead.’

BOLIVIA—Graduated pet licensure is being considered by Brunswick County Animal Services as a way to offset euthanasia rates and make pet owners more responsible.

“It would be a fee that would be paid by every resident in Brunswick County that had an animal,” Brunswick County environmental services director David Stanley said at an animal services advisory meeting Monday night.

SUNSET BEACH—The town is no longer pursuing a controversial “open space” zone for golf courses and instead is considering proposed ordinance amendments.

Jeff Curtis, chief building inspector for the town, said the alternative is being considered after Sunset Beach Town Council voted to defer indefinitely consideration of the proposed open-space or OS-1 district at its Jan. 11 meeting.

SUNSET BEACH—Town council has approved a resolution authorizing an appropriation for bike and walk paths.

The vote came at council’s monthly meeting Monday night as a result of council’s Feb. 16 planning retreat, where members “indicated a willingness to pay for the engineering design and surveying of the approved” bike plan, according to a summary prepared by town administrator Gary Parker.

In their professional capacities, law enforcement officers deal with convicted felons on a regular basis. In their personal lives, many law enforcement agencies prohibit officers from associating with convicted felons.

Former Brunswick County Sheriff Ronald Hewett, a convicted felon, has thrown his full support behind Tim Daniels, a sergeant with the N.C. State Highway Patrol and sheriff’s candidate.

“Yes, we support Tim Daniels,” Hewett wrote in a Feb. 25 e-mail to the Beacon.